Terry
Aquarium Advice FINatic
Sorry people, got bored again today so i thought i would write abit about the Orange Chromide which is one of my favourate cichlids.
The Cichlid i am going to talk about today is an Asian cichlid, it hails from southern India and Sri Lanka. It differs from mainstream cichlids in many ways, from the point of view of the hobbiest, the main differance being that it needs Brackish water
This combination of water chemistry, however, is not ideal for plants which is an important part of the Chromide enviroment. But there are plants that will tolerate the salt, you will not go far wrong if you use Vallisneria which will gradually acclimatize to these conditions ( plants with long broad leaves are good).
The Orange Chromide is small for a cichlid, rarely reaching a length of 3". The substrate is important as these fish are pit-digging substrate spawners and it is best to use a fine sand/gravel mix. Temperature should be about 26 degrees and move up to 29 degrees for breeding. The sexes of the fish is not easy to distinguish, but the males are larger and the female has white markings on the edges of the caudal fin. One of the things that i like about the Chromide is that there young are like baby Discus and they graze on there parents mucus, it is advisable to leave the young with there parents as long as space permits. It might take several attemps to successfully raise there young, possibly there parents don't produce enough mucus the first couple of attemps. But patients will bring there rewards.
So there we have it: A small, easy to keep, attractive, relatively peaceful cichlid which breeds readily. what else could you ask for.
The Cichlid i am going to talk about today is an Asian cichlid, it hails from southern India and Sri Lanka. It differs from mainstream cichlids in many ways, from the point of view of the hobbiest, the main differance being that it needs Brackish water
Almost every failure with this fish is caused by incorrect water conditions. ph should be in excess of 7.5 and a teaspoon of salt needs to be added for every 5 litres of aquarium water (salt mixtures sold for marine fish are best). given these conditions your Chromide should thrive.
This combination of water chemistry, however, is not ideal for plants which is an important part of the Chromide enviroment. But there are plants that will tolerate the salt, you will not go far wrong if you use Vallisneria which will gradually acclimatize to these conditions ( plants with long broad leaves are good).
The Orange Chromide is small for a cichlid, rarely reaching a length of 3". The substrate is important as these fish are pit-digging substrate spawners and it is best to use a fine sand/gravel mix. Temperature should be about 26 degrees and move up to 29 degrees for breeding. The sexes of the fish is not easy to distinguish, but the males are larger and the female has white markings on the edges of the caudal fin. One of the things that i like about the Chromide is that there young are like baby Discus and they graze on there parents mucus, it is advisable to leave the young with there parents as long as space permits. It might take several attemps to successfully raise there young, possibly there parents don't produce enough mucus the first couple of attemps. But patients will bring there rewards.
So there we have it: A small, easy to keep, attractive, relatively peaceful cichlid which breeds readily. what else could you ask for.
